Board Responsibilities

The Board of Governors is accountable to the School community for Grammar's success in achieving its Mission, Vision and strategic plans in a manner consistent with its values.

According to current standards of governance, the Board of Governors is responsible to provide strategic leadership and effective stewardship and to advance the best interests of the School as a whole.

The Board is expected to:

• Approve the School’s Mission and Vision
• Ensure that the School’s values and ethics are clear, known to and applied by the School community
• Recruit, appoint, evaluate, develop and compensate the Head of School
• Participate in the development of and approve the School’s strategic plan
• Approve the annual priorities and budget, ensuring alignment with the strategic plan
• Monitor the School’s progress in relation to its strategic and annual plans
• Ensure the ongoing financial sustainability of the School
• Provide leadership in advancing a culture of philanthropy at the school
• Understand the principal risks facing the school and ensure that the School administration has systems in place to identify and manage risk
• Monitor the adequacy of the School’s internal controls and management information systems
• Promote and monitor the quality of the School’s programs and services
• Ensure that the School’s human resources policies support the attraction, development, and retention of qualified and motivated employees
• Approve a communications policy and monitor the effectiveness of the School’s relationships with key stakeholders
• Demonstrate accountability to the School community and monitor the School’s compliance with legal reporting requirements
• Foster the Board’s ongoing effectiveness and efficiency

 

The Articles of Association provide that the “direction of the affairs of the Company” shall be vested in the Governors. The Board is responsible for setting the policy and strategies of the Company and performing scheduled reviews of them. Specific authority is given to the Board to do things such as appoint a Head of School, set policies for the admission and removal of students, set the student fees, encourage and receive donations and endowments, purchase property and provide for the management of the affairs of the School in such a manner as they see fit.

Individual Governors owe a fiduciary duty to the School. They are expected to act reasonably, prudently and in good faith in the best interests of the School as a whole. They are also expected to avoid conflicts of interest, to maintain the confidentiality of Board business and to support decisions made collectively by the Board. Individual Governors must also act in accordance with applicable legislation, by-laws and policies. Finally, each Governor is expected to exercise the same degree of care, skill, and diligence as would be expected of a person with the same experience and background.

The Board has a critically important role to play in advancing the mission of the Halifax Grammar School. The Board approves the School’s mission. It leads to the development of a shared vision and establishes clear strategic priorities for the School. It appoints a Head of School with the passion, commitment, and skills required to implement the strategic plan. The Board bears a critical responsibility for sourcing the funds and other resources required to support the School’s Mission.

Governors are expected to demonstrate leadership in garnering philanthropic and other support for the School. All Board members are expected to participate in the Annual Campaign and periodic Capital Campaigns, to their ability to do so. Board members are also expected to encourage others to support Grammar's fundraising efforts.